本 book, present, main. Stroke order from KanjiVG, meanings from KANJIDIC2.
JLPT N5
Don’t memorise a mistake.
Daruma teaches JLPT N5 kana, kanji and words. The kanji, words and sentences come from open dictionaries and collections that people write and correct in public, the oldest since 1991. We don’t use AI to write its word entries, dictionary meanings or example sentences. Every example sentence belongs to someone who lists Japanese as their native language.
Coming soon to iPhone and AndroidSee the sources
Try five questions from the app.
How is this kana read?
ね
A wrong card is worse than no card.
You can’t see the error. You drill it until it feels right, and then you meet it on the test. In 12,178 store reviews of Japanese study apps, people complain about right answers marked wrong and Japanese written by AI that nobody checked.
じょうず. You can’t get it from the everyday words うえ and て.
In Daruma: JMdict #1353320
April is しがつ, never よんがつ.
Real use:
四月一日です。
It's April first.
Sentence: Tatoeba #168964 by bunbuku. Furigana by tommy_san. English: Tatoeba #245523 by CK. CC BY 2.0 FR
A destination takes に or へ.
Real sentence:
明日は学校に行くよ。
I'll go to school tomorrow.
Sentence: Tatoeba #11016382 by small_snow. English: Tatoeba #10056564 by DJ_Saidez. CC BY 2.0 FR
Invented cards, showing the kind of error learners report. Not taken from any app.
Every word has a paper trail.
Showing 学校
- 1
がっこう school
- 2
On Daruma’s N5 list Basic
- 3
学 study, learning, science
校 exam, school, printing
- 4
学校は好き？
Do you like school?
Sentence: Tatoeba #2446172 by tommy_san. Furigana by KK_kaku_. English: Tatoeba #1098292 by cntrational. CC BY 2.0 FR
| Source | What it gives Daruma | By | Since | This build | Licence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JMdict | Words, readings, English meanings | The EDRDG and contributors | 1991, as EDICT | 4 Nov 2026 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| KANJIDIC2 | Kanji readings, meanings and stroke counts, how common each kanji is in newspapers, and the JLPT levels from before 2010 | The EDRDG and contributors | 4 Nov 2026 | CC BY-SA 4.0 | |
| Tatoeba | Example sentences, English lines, furigana | Its members | 2006 | 31 Oct to 7 Nov 2026 | CC BY 2.0 FR |
| KanjiVG | Stroke order | Ulrich Apel and contributors | 2009 | 14 Jul 2026 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
| wordfreq | How common each word is, one of the measures that put the most useful words first in lessons and decide which are Basic | Robyn Speer | 3.1.1 | code Apache-2.0, data CC BY-SA 4.0 | |
| tanos N5 lists | The starting list of N5 kanji, words and grammar | Jonathan Waller, JLPT Resources | 2020 archive | CC BY | |
| Daruma’s own | The choice of kanji, words and grammar points added to that list (the kanji and word entries stay KANJIDIC2’s and JMdict’s), the kana table, the romaji, the links from each sentence to its words, names and grammar, and the short teaching text: kana rules, notes and hints, te-forms, some grammar labels and the wording of quiz explanations. | Daruma |
248,947
4,312
Tatoeba has 248,947 Japanese sentences. Daruma’s build keeps 4,312, by rule: owned by members who list Japanese as their native language, translated into English, made only of Daruma’s N5 words, kanji and grammar (names aside), and with no reviewer’s ‘not OK’. Another 142 were taken out one at a time, such as ones that use an N5 word in a sense or idiom N5 doesn’t teach, or have a wrong translation. 1,275 carry a reviewer’s OK.
Furigana: a member reviewed the readings on 3,182 of them. The other 1,130 carry Tatoeba’s automatic readings. Daruma’s build changed the readings in a handful of them.
The JLPT has published no official word list since the 2010 revision. So Daruma starts from one widely used N5 list and adds words and grammar that the official sample questions and the 2012 practice workbook use, plus some common greetings and forms. The kanji also draw on the last official lists, from before 2010: 24 more from Level 4, the level N5 replaced, and 57 from Level 3 (today’s N4) that two or more N5 words use, which Daruma marks Advanced. Daruma’s Basic level now includes every kanji that workbook tests. The library holds 210 kana, 161 kanji, 772 words and 61 grammar points.
Daruma remembers what you get wrong.
Two sample learners: the map and the screen.
- Not learned 55
- Bad 12
- Good 80
- Excellent 14
A right answer in a lesson or round raises an item one level, once a day at most, and it waits longer. A wrong answer drops it two levels and it comes back tomorrow. Once an item has reached level 1, it never falls below it. Here, each press counts as a new day.
Comes back in 7 days
Real screens, sample progress.
Turn off what you don’t need.
Settings
Session length
Each lesson has up to 60 reviews and 8 new items (15 while you learn kana).
北海道に行ってたの？
Did you go to Hokkaido?
Sentence: Tatoeba #11804164 by small_snow. English: Tatoeba #7813095 by sharris123. CC BY 2.0 FR
- Make a set from anything.
- Put any kana, kanji, word or grammar point in your own set, then quiz on its kana, kanji and words in rounds of 10.
- Drill only what you fail.
- ‘Bad items only’ pulls every item you last got wrong in a lesson or round, from every set.
- Skip what you know.
- Pass a two-question check with ‘I know this’ and the item goes straight to Excellent. Pass the kana check and your lessons skip kana.
Pay in time, not in pain.
Daruma’s lessons cover 1,075 items. There is no shortcut through that, and we won’t sell you one. What Daruma takes off your hands is everything else: what to study next, when to review it, and what you got wrong.
123 days. Kana done on day 16.
That is one lesson a day, every day, with every answer right. Wrong answers add reviews, and a missed day adds a day. The minutes are the app’s lesson sizes, not timings. Reviews go on after that. Lessons teach 208 of the 210 kana, 6 kana rules, 104 Basic kanji and 757 Basic words.
Want a long session? Finish a lesson and start another. Then run rounds on any kana, kanji or word set for as long as you like: seven kinds of question and an explanation after every answer. In lessons and rounds, an item’s level rises once a day at most, so extra rounds are practice, not a shortcut.
Not written yet: grammar explanations and quizzes, reading, listening, section tests, a placement test and full practice exams.
Paint the first eye.
A daruma starts with blank eyes. You paint one when you set your goal and the other when you reach it.
Coming soon to iPhone and Android